Welcome back!
Sign in to start taking action.

Thanks for signing up as a global citizen. In order to create your account we need you to provide your email address. You can check out our Privacy Policy to see how we safeguard and use the information you provide us with. If your Facebook account does not have an attached e-mail address, you'll need to add that before you can sign up.

The measure hasn’t been legalized yet, but it will be “fast-tracked” for approval, the Independent reports. It’s the most extreme penalty in the world for poaching, and it represents a tipping point in the global fight against the decline of wildlife. The new measure also marks a worrisome departure from the country’s efforts to eliminate the death penalty, according to Amnesty International.

“We have in place the Wildlife Conservation Act that was enacted in 2013 and which fetches offenders a life sentence or a fine of US $200,000,” Najib Balala, Kenya’s wildlife and tourism minister, reportedly said. “However, this has not been deterrence enough to curb poaching, hence the proposed stiffer sentence."

In recent years, poaching has dropped considerably in Kenya after new punishments were enacted and enforcement tactics were improved, the Guardian reports. In fact, rhino poaching in 2017 declined by 85% compared to 2012, and elephant poaching fell by 78% during the same period, according to the Independent.

However, because many animal populations had been pushed to endangered status over the past few decades, any amount of poaching poses an existential threat, the Guardian notes.

The suggestion of capital punishment for poaching has been met with mixed responses.

Some argue that such an extreme punishment should only be given to the leaders of criminal enterprises who orchestrate the killing of animals and benefit the most from selling animal products, the Independent reports.

Smaller criminals who do the poachings often live in poverty and carry out the crimes because of economic hardship, according to Borgen Magazine.

Others, including the United Nations, argue that capital punishment is intrinsically barbaric.